Russia bans entry of US naval officer

Moscow: Russia has denied a visa to a high-ranking US Navy officer suspected by Moscow of human rights violations, a minister said Friday.

"We did not let in a US general who used to be a chief of the Guantanamo prison," Xinhua quoted First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Denisov as saying.

Russia enacted Jan 1 a law which, among other measures, bans the entry of US officers into Russia if they have been suspected of violating human rights.

Denisov did not name the US officer.

According to Russian media reports, the visa was denied to Rear Admiral Jeffrey Harbeson who was a commandant of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba in 2010-2011.
He is currently deputy director for politico-military affairs for Europe, NATO and Russia in the office of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.